TOP BIT
OK, so it's been something of a plugs fest this week in the Top Bit, we know that. But hopefully you'll forgive one more plugging TB, because we have lots to plug ahead of this Bank Holiday weekend.

First up, one for all you London types for tonight. It is the latest edition of the CMU Recommended Twisted Licks, which another stellar line up of bands - FlyKiller, Fenech-Soler and Lesser Panda - taking to the stage, in amongst some very fine DJing from the likes of Guy from Fierce Panda and Twisted Licks resident Mark Beaumont. This is one of the capital's finest nights for fans of anything electric or indie, or, in particular, somewhere in between. It all takes place tonight, 2 May, at 8pm at 229 next to Great Portland Street tube. Tickets are six quid before 10pm, £8 after.

Second up, and talking of 229, please do not, under any circumstances, forget that this coming Tuesday, 6 May, is the next edition of the CMU Social, the night especially for all you CMU Daily readers. It's headlined by A.Human, who release debut album 'Third Hand Prophecy' on Wall Of Sound next week. Support comes from INDY Award winners Penny Black Remedy. Doors open at 7pm, and you should come early for cheap beer, well-priced snacks, the CMU Pop Quiz, and the chance to network with other music business types. Hurrah.

Third, the Brighton Festival kicks off tomorrow - a three week frenzy of theatre, comedy, cabaret, music, musicals, talks, debates and other nonsense taking place all over our favourite seaside city. Our sister publication ThreeWeeks is covering it all, and you will be able to check out our previews of it from tomorrow at http://www.threeweeks.co.uk. In the middle of all this, of course, is the rather brilliant and previously reported Great Escape. You'll find more info on it at http://www.escapegreat.com, plus look out for details of CMU's events at The Great Escape and ThreeWeeks' coverage of it in next week's Daily.

Meanwhile, have a great May Day and see you back here on Tuesday.

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VIGSY'S CLUB TIP: Wang at Corsica Studios
The Wangers present another rather fine night, featuring several big names in dance music. Among them the still buzzing me thinks Simian Mobile Disco, the legend that is Alexander Robotnick who is still very much on it despite having been on the seen for a very long time, and Jim Masters, he of the Hi Tek Soul nights, and one of my favourites, a true techno overlord who used to play at Ultimate Base nights alongside Carl Cox at the Velvet Rooms. This DJ, who cuts up tennis balls to place under the feet of his 1210's, always got my vote when he used to play down the Riki Tik bar in Soho many moons ago. These are just the highlights of this night, to be honest, but I'm already sold! A must go event.

Saturday 3 May, Corsica Studios, Elephant Road London SE17, 10pm-6am, tickets £10 in advance, more at http://www.wanging.com and press from Lou at Rocketscience.

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RAJAR ROUND UP
So, it was RAJARS day again yesterday, with the latest radio listening figures released, and it was another good day stats wise for good old BBC Radio, who scored record audiences for flagship shows, like the Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan breakfast shows on Radios 1 and 2. The Beeb's overall lead in the first quarter of the year in terms of audience share was 15.7%, up from 13.9% in the same quarter of 2007. Radio 2 did particularly well, with Wogan scoring an all time high of 13.63 million listeners a week, and the station overall scoring a record audience share of 16.5%. No wonder everyone wants to be on Radio 2 these days. While there were some successes in commercial radio, and commercial stations still perform better among younger demographics, the commercial sector, despite talking about the need to work together to better compete with the BBC, hasn't gained any ground. With relatively new hands now in charge of big chunks of the commercial radio sector - Bauer since their acquisition of EMAP Radio, and Global following their acquisition of Chrysalis Radio and (assuming it goes through) GCap - it remains to be seen if the new top guard of the sector can better compete with the Corporation.

Global's ongoing acquisition of GCap will hopefully help distract senior execs there from their RAJARs, which include two disappointments in the London market - flagship FM station Capital fell behind Bauer's Kiss for the first time ever in terms of number of listeners - something that would have been unimaginable ten years ago. Meanwhile alternative station Xfm saw its audience fall 40% in comparison to the previous year, probably as a combined result of their unsuccessful dabbling in unpopular presenter-free back-to-back request driven radio on daytime, and the rising popularity and availability of the BBC's 6Music, which has been stealing much of Xfm's traditional listenership. Elsewhere in London, Magic and Heart both competed for the number one commercial station in London crown. In terms of number of listeners, Magic was slightly down and Heart slightly up, but the former stayed ahead. In terms of audience share, both stations scored 5.8%.

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HENDRIX COMPANY RESPOND TO SEX TAPE
The estate of Jimi Hendrix, via its Experience Hendrix company, has issued a statement in relation to that previously reported (alleged) Jimi Hendrix sex tape which a company called Vivid DVD is planning on releasing. The Hendrix company disputes the authenticity of the tape and accuses Vivid of exploiting Jimi's name.

The statement reads: "We, Experience Hendrix, the family company of Jimi Hendrix are aware of the release of the adult videotape which alleges to contain illicit footage of Jimi Hendrix. We strongly dispute the claimed authenticity and affirmatively state that Experience Hendrix is neither involved in, nor have we authorized the distribution of this film. Further, we deplore this obvious exploitation of Jimi Hendrix. We view the release as nothing more than a callous attempt to trade on the image and reputation of a deceased artist who is unable to defend himself against such an outrageous and baseless assertion. We are highly offended by the disgraceful portrayal. While we do not wish to call undue attention to this desecration, we reserve all rights and remedies under the law to protect the character and legacy of Jimi Hendrix with which we have been charged and legally possess".

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NICKELBACK MAN SENTENCED OVER DUI CHARGE
Nickelback man Chad Kroeger was given a one year driving ban and fined CAN$600 in relation to those previously reported DUI charges stemming from an incident in British Columbia in 2006. According to Reuters, Kroeger, who originally tried to have the DUI charges dismissed on technicalities relating to the police's handling of his arrest, told reporters outside the Vancouver court yesterday that he did not condone drink driving, and that "everyone makes mistakes". His lawyer added that the singer planned to appeal the conviction, again based on the police process issues.

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GREENING DIED OF ACCIDENTAL DRUGS OVERDOSE
No one will be prosecuted over the death of the late great radio DJ Kevin Greening who, as previously reported, died suddenly on 29 Dec last year. The exact cause of Greening's death was unclear at the time, and a 51 year old man was arrested at Greening's flat. But toxicology tests have shown that he died of an accidental drugs overdose, and no further action will be taken against anyone. A police spokesman said: "We can confirm that, following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no charges will be brought regarding responsibility for the death of Kevin Greening". A full inquest into the death will now take place on 3 Jun.

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TONY WILSON TRIBUTE DEBATE LAUNCHED
Organisers of The Tony Wilson Experience, billed as "the longest ever intelligent conversation", are seeking 200 creative young people to get involved in the event.

The continuous 24hr debate will kick off at noon on 21 Jun in Manchester, featuring an informal group of former colleagues of music mogul Tony Wilson (who died of cancer last August) and a selected audience of 200 young people. They will be selected based on the potential they show across a broad range of creative arts, the aim for the event being to "act as a catalyst for creative talent to be nurtured and supported by the original and modern city of Manchester".

For those unable to be there in person, the debate will be broadcast globally via podcasts.

It is hoped that this initial event will "be a suitably innovative approach to establishing a Creative Arts Summer School that would be an annual and sustainable tribute to Tony Wilson, aimed at the upcoming creative talent that he spent his life nurturing, challenging and supporting".

So, if you're young, creative and over 18, head over to http://www.tonywilsonexperience.com for more information on how to apply to be in the audience.

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ELVIS LONDON VISIT DISPUTED
Okay! Hold off rewriting those history books for a second! A close friend of Elvis Presley is disputing claims that he once made a secret sightseeing tour of London.

As we reported last week, theatre producer Bill Kenwright let slip in an interview for BBC Radio 2 that The King once came to London for a sightseeing tour with fellow singer Tommy Steele in 1958, when Elvis was 23, and the two singers, with Presley's then soon-to-be-wife Priscilla, took in the Houses Of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

Asked to confirm the visit, Steele later said: "I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of 'getting into the light'. I can only hope [Elvis] can forgive me".

However, Lamar Fike, a close friend of Elvis' who was posted to Germany with him when they were in the US Army, says that the trip never happened. He told BBC News: "My apologies to Tommy, but it did not happen. I was with him the whole time. I got there two days after he got there. He was confined to base. Had he gone to England, I'd have been there".

Fike has written a soon-to-be-published book about his time with Elvis (presumably with no mention of London in it), entitled 'An Uncommon Journey'.

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CLIFF RICHARD "PROVES UK RADIO BIAS"
Cliff Richard claims to have proven that UK radio stations are biased against him by revealing that he released a successful RnB single in 1998 under an assumed name. Richard, of course, has long claimed that radio stations, particularly BBC Radio 1, have a vendetta against him and unfairly refuse to play his music. Though why it's taken him ten years to reveal his secret single is anybody's guess.

The singer said: "I was proved right - my name can be a terrible drawback. When I hear myself on the radio I pretty much phone a friend and send a bottle of champagne round. I'm excited to get one play, if your name doesn't fit the bill, they will never give you a listen".

I'm not sure the anonymous track does prove the vendetta theory, actually. It just proves that if he does something a bit more in-keeping with current pop radio playlists, he has a better chance of getting played. He really needs to release an RnB single under his own name to test his theory. Or, even better, an emo single.

I've actually been trying to track down this single, so far unsuccessfully. Last.fm claims that there is a German visual artist called CR - perhaps that's his alter-ego. And CR has a song called 'Hate The Christian Right', perhaps the track Cliff's referring to.

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MONTHLY CURE SINGLES UPCOMING
The Cure will release a new single each month between now and September, leading up to the release of their thirteenth album that month. The first single - name tbc - will be out on, obviously, 13 May. Subsequent singles will follow on 13 Jun, 13 Jul and 13 Aug before 13 Sep album release.

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METALLICA RELEASE DATE LEAKED
Metallica are yet to officially announce a release date for their ninth studio album, but Amazon.com has listed 28 Oct on a page through with the online retailer is taking pre-orders. No word yet from the band or their label as to whether this is correct or not.

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WEEZER AIM TO ANNOY
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has revealed that the first single from the band's new album 'Weezer' (or the red album, to its friends) was inspired after the band's label DGC rejected songs he had originally written for the album. Cuomo told Rolling Stone magazine that the content of the song 'Pork And Beans' was deliberately inane. He said: "I came out of [the meeting with DGC] pretty angry, but ironically, it inspired me to write another song".

Lyrics from the song include the lines: "Everyone likes to dance to a happy song/With a catchy chorus and beat so they can sing along/Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the chart/ Maybe if I work with him I can perfect the art"

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SNOOP DOGG TEAMS UP WITH LINDSAY LOHAN
If you want to have any credibility in this day and age, you need to either be troubled or have a hip hop superstar guest on your new album. Well, it must be Lindsay Lohan's lucky day because, fresh out of rehab, she's signed up Snoop Dogg to work with her on a track for her as-yet-untitled third album. The rapper joins Timbaland and Pharrell Williams, who are also on board. I think that's the full set of top hip hop types. Oh no, I forgot about Dre. He's not appearing on the record, I just wanted to make that really lame joke. I'm sorry.

Anyway, according to showbiz journalist Roger Friedman, these collaborations will really boost Lohan's "street cred". He said: "UMG [Universal Music Group] is sparing no expense on this recording, bringing in all the usual suspects like Timbaland and Pharrell to make a good record for the rehabbed and revived Lindsay".

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MARK RONSON DOES DURAN DURAN
Mark Ronson is to work with Duran Duran on some reworked versions of a number of the group's hits for a one-off concert in Paris this July. The producer, who is currently also working with Amy Winehouse and Kaiser Chiefs, is in the studio working on the remixes as we speak.

Ronson told reporters: "[Duran Duran] were the only band I ever idolised. I used to take a picture of [bassist] John Taylor with me to the barber shop". Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon added: "[Mark Ronson] is one of the biggest talents to have emerged in recent years. He's taking popular music in a new, exciting and fresh direction. He also looks great in a well cut suit, and has the blood and voice of an Englishman".

The show, which will take place at La Cigale in Paris on 2 Jul, will also include a set from Ronson's band The Version Players, with a guest vocal spot from Le Bon. Unfortunately for the vast majority of Ronson and Duran Duran fans, the show will be invite only. However, it will be filmed and shown around the world, say sponsors Smirnoff.

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ALICIA KEYS HOLDS MYSPACE AUDITIONS
Alicia Keys is searching for a backing singer to join her band on her forthcoming tour to promote her latest album 'As I Am'. The singer is asking fans to submit a capella versions of her songs on video via MySpace. The video must be a minimum of 30 seconds long and applicants should be female, aged between 21 and 30, hold a valid passport, be physically fit, and able to dance. You'll need to be quick, too. The deadline for submissions is 5 May. For more details, go to http://www.aliciakeys.com/tourtheworld

'As I Am' was released last November and has so far sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

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FRATELLIS SLAM GLASTONBURY HEADLINER
Not content with being disparaging of Jay-Z's headline slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival, Fratellis bassist Barry Fratelli has taken a swipe at all three headliners, particularly Kings of Leon. He told The Daily Star: "I don't think they should be headlining", but added: "Not to say I think we should be headlining, but I don't think the headline acts this year are too good to be honest".

The Fratellis are set to play the slot before Kings Of Leon at this year's Glastonbury, which means they'll probably have to walk past them at some point, which could be interesting. Still, the bassist wasn't particularly nice about his own band, either. Speaking about their performance at last year's festival, he said: "We built it up as this big thing and it was shite. The only thing that saved our weekend was that I got to see The Who from the side of the stage".

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PENTANGLE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR
Here's some exciting news for fans of 70s folk. The utterly lovely Pentangle - featuring the original line up of Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox - have announced a UK tour in June and July, followed by a headline appearance at this year's Green Man Festival.

The sold out show at the Royal Festival Hall in London will mark the 40th anniversary of the recording of the live disc of their seminal double album, 'Sweet Child', at the same venue.

ALBUM REVIEW: Minuit - 88 Guards (Dollhouse Records)
'I Went To This Party And There Were 88 Guards With Guns', or '88 Guards' for those of you with less time on your hands, is the debut album from Minuit, and what a debut it is. The band manages to merge organic vocals that verge on spoken word, meaningful lyrics reminiscent of slam poetry, and electronic beats for a hip take on dance music. The resulting sound is almost tropical, almost hip-hop, almost new age pop (if such a thing can be said to exist). There is also a fair amount of diversity in the album overall, with some tracks retaining more of a pop appeal and others hearkening back to more traditional electronic techniques, such as repetitive samples and lyrics, a good example of which is 'Claire'. Yet unlike most electronic tracks, this is the kind of music that one can easily imagine performed. The icing on the cake is vocalist Ruth. She is like a cross between Kate Nash and Bjork, her voice like raspy velvet, parochial and self-assured in a very sleek and confident manner that really sets the band apart from other acts. No matter how you want to categorize them, Minuit are consistently capable of producing instantly addictive beats. I reckon that this is the closest to emotional fulfilment a dance album has ever gotten. Minuit is bound only to benefit from their mix of personality and detachment, lyricism and edgy abandon. EO
Release Date: 28 Apr
Press Contact: Big Foot [All]

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NOKIA SAY COMES WITH MUSIC IS VIABLE
Nokia have said that they believe their Comes With Music venture is commercially viable, after much speculation as to how much the phone firms are paying the record labels so that their music phones can come pre-loaded with a year's worth of access to entire catalogues of music.

Some reckon the money paid to Universal - and due to be paid to SonyBMG - in return for being able to give their customers access to those major's music for free for a year eats up all of the phone maker's profit margin on the mobile handsets. If that was the case, the whole venture would presumably have a limited lifespan, which wouldn't be good for the phone company or, long term, the record labels.

But Liz Schimel, the head of Nokia's music operations, told reporters this week: "We expect to make money both from our traditional device sales, as well as from the 'Comes With Music' service. I can assure you that we are looking out for everyone's interests in creating these new business models, including our own".

She added: "Recent articles that I've seen have fundamentally misunderstood the concept behind the Comes With Music model. This new model is innovative and creates a positive situation for all stakeholders, but it does require a different way of thinking for our content partners".

Make of that what you will.

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ARVATO TAKE OVER UNIVERSAL'S DISTRIBUTION
Universal yesterday confirmed it had, as expected, handed over its distribution operations to Bertelsmann owned logistics firm Arvato, who sold its own distribution company Pinnacle earlier this year. Arvato took over running the major's big distribution hub in Milton Keynes yesterday.

In case you wondered why Universal have decided to outsource their distribution, well, look, here's Universal Music UK CFO David Bryant to explain: "Arvato has an extremely strong track record in distribution and fulfilment as well as a deep understanding of our industry. Over the coming years, Arvato will further develop what has become one of the UK's most important distribution hubs for the entertainment industry. As this industry evolves to serve its consumers through a variety of delivery systems, this agreement with Arvato aligns with Universal Music's core strategy of developing and promoting our artists and their music."

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US COURT RULES ON ONLINE PUBLISHING RATES
A US District Court has ruled on a long running dispute between three of the US's big net outfits - AOL, Real and Yahoo - and publishing rights body ASCAP, regarding how much the web firms should pay the collecting society for the rights to play songs on their online music services. ASCAP seemed very happy with the ruling, which presumably means the web companies won't be. They'll have to pay ASCAP 2.5% of any "music-use-adjusted revenue", whatever that means. Some media reports in the US reckon it will mean the three companies paying the rights body $100 million between them.

No word from the net types as yet, but ASCAP chief Marilyn Bergman says this: "The Court's finding represents a major step toward proper valuation of the music contributions of songwriters, composers and publishers to these types of online businesses - many of which have built much of their success on the foundation of the creative works of others. It is critical that these organisations share a reasonable portion of their sizable revenues with those of us whose content attracts audiences and, ultimately, helps to make their businesses viable. This decision will go a long way toward protecting the ability of songwriters and composers to be compensated fairly as the use of musical works online continues to grow".

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TICKETMASTER BUY VIP TICKETING COMPANY
Ticketmaster has acquired the assets of a company called SLO, which provides what they call VIP ticketing services. They provide music fans with the best seats in the house, combined ticket and travel packages, and what they call "on-site experiences". SLO's services will be integrated into Ticketmaster's offer. SLO boss Shelley Lazar confirmed the deal, telling reporters: "By joining forces with Ticketmaster, we will be able to offer VIP ticketing services and special access opportunities to greater numbers of passionate music fans".

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GMG RADIO GIVE AWAY FREE DOWNLOADS
GMG Radio will be promoting the previously reported 'download via your radio' service Cliq this Bank Holiday weekend by giving listeners to its Real and Century Radio outfits the chance to download tracks for nothing. Tracks bought via the service normally cost £1.25, but this weekend they'll be free. You access the service via your mobile somehow - I've not quite figured out how it works to be honest - I do know that the special 'download it to your radio' system which makes Cliq stand out from its competitors isn't currently operational. GMG Head Of Music Terry Underhill told reporters: "This is the first time any radio station will actually give all its listeners the chance to download for free the songs they hear being played on air during one day".

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FIVE CEO QUITS, AIREY MAY NOT ARRIVE THERE FOR A YEAR
It turns out that ITV exec Dawn Airey will not just become Chairman of rival telly firm Five, but CEO of it too. Which presumably isn't news that has gone down all that well with Five's current CEO Jane Lighting, and is presumably why she announced yesterday that she will resign with immediate effect. As previously reported, Airey has tendered her resignation at ITV, though the consensus is that the commercial broadcaster will force her to stick to the twelve month notice period in her contract, meaning she won't join Five until May next year. Five's Exec Director Of Sales will take on the CEO role there until Airey's arrival.

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SINGLE REVIEW: Esser - I Love You (Merok)
Coming on like a less white Supergrass, this infernally catchy debut single from Esser (aka Ben Esser in the studio, augmented by some of his mates live) sees fuzzed up bass, shuffling beats and delirious backing vocals all coalesce with a chorus somewhere between Blur, The Specials, Merseybeat and God knows what else. Like Foals or These New Puritans it's essentially standard pale indie rock made frighteningly more colourful by the eclectic influences the band are clearly keen to show off. If they can keep things up to the standards of 'I Love You', the future could be very bright indeed. MS
Release Date: 21 Apr
Press contact: Bang On [O]

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MADONNA DEFENDS MILEY
Madonna has come to the defence of teenage US pop and telly star Miley 'daughter of Billy Ray' Cyrus after she took part in a slightly raunchy photo shoot for Vanity Fair. Fifteen year old Cyrus, best know for appearing in the title role in the Disney franchise 'Hannah Montana', has caused outrage in the US press because of the suggestive photos. Cyrus herself has apologised for the pics, and admitted the shoot had "embarrassed" her. But Madonna, an expert at pissing off more conservative Americans, told MTV that "everyone should just leave her alone", saying the pictures were "not a big deal" and adding: "People are just bored. Leave the poor girl alone. She's going to grow up soon, she's going to probably show her knees next - watch out". Disney have blamed Vanity Fair and their photographer, Annie Leibovitz, for the whole thing, saying earlier this week that they had "deliberately manipulated a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines".

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SHAKIN STEVENS FANCIES A RELAUNCH
Shakin Stevens fancies a Kylie style reinvention, and is hopeful that his previously reported appearance of Glastonbury this year may change people's opinions about him. Contactmusic quote Shaky thus: "Rod Stewart doesn't wear leotards anymore, Elton John has taken off the platforms [shoes] and Tom Jones's trousers are a bit looser. I look different and sound different and now it would be nice to show people what I can do in a more contemporary way. Look at Kylie. She's changed and adapted but still kept her fans. That's what I want to do".